Gov. Gavin Newsom must now decide whether to sign into law the fiercely debated legislation.
California lawmakers overwhelmingly approved legislation that would create new restrictions for artificial intelligence, sending a bill that might set the national standard for regulating the new technology to the governor’s office for final consideration.
The State Assembly approved the legislation known as SB1047, which would require big A.I. systems to test their systems for safety before releasing them to the public. The bill, also gives the state’s attorney general the power to sue A.I. makers for serious harms caused by their technologies like death or property damage.
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has not indicated his position on the legislation and has faced strong pressure from the tech industry to veto it. The proposed regulations have become embroiled in a fierce debate over how to regulate A.I., which, depending on whom you ask, has the potential for great benefits and harms to humanity.
If signed into law, the state would become the standard-bearer of regulating a technology that has exploded in recent years, particularly with the introduction of humanlike chatbots and realistic image and video generators. No federal laws have been passed, although the European Union has created the A.I. Safety Act, which restricts the use of riskier technology like facial recognition software.
Elon Musk posted this week on his social media site X that it was “tough call” but that “all things considered” he supported regulation of A.I. and the bill because of the technology’s potential risks to the public. Last year Mr. Musk founded the A.I. company xAI and he is the chief executive of Tesla, an electric vehicle manufacturer that uses A.I. for self-driving.
Other supporters of the bill say that without guardrails, A.I. has catastrophic potential. It could be used to fuel biowarfare or overturn democratic elections and governments through disinformation campaigns.